MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th April, 2022) Clashes between residents of two suburbs in the town of Kimbe in the West New Britain province of Papua New Guinea left two people dead, 14 houses burned and 167 people arrested, provincial police chief inspector John Iara said on Wednesday.
The outbreak of violence, which took place between Friday and Saturday, was sparked by a recent government order to repatriate the families who came to West New Britain years ago from other provinces to work in palm plantations, Papua New Guinean newspaper National reported. Some of the workers lived in the feuding suburbs of Kimbe.
According to the newspaper, the forced relocation pushed people to organize into groups of 30 to 40, which attacked and robbed other residents. The police noted an increase in rapes and armed attacks in the town.
"Two people have been confirmed dead and many others wounded. Police arrested 167 in a dawn raid on Monday and charged them for fighting and for being in possession of firearms and marijuana," Iara was quoted as saying in the report.
Clashes like this are not uncommon in Papua New Guinea. In the middle of April, the police detained 19 people in connection with bloody clashes between residents in the Morobe Province, which claimed lives of 12 people and left 100 homes destroyed. A mobile police regiment and six investigators were sent to the area to stop the conflict and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Another violent incident happened in early April, when four teenagers were killed and over 20 were injured in a street fight between schoolchildren in the city of Mount Hagen.
